Beyond Good and Evil
by Hanecko92
Summary: Stuck at Privet Drive, Harry hopes for the start of the 7th year at Hogwarts. He never thought his stay there would be cut short. He tries to deal with everything but a partial loss of memory, new secrets, love interests and friends and foes alike throw him for a loop. Who would have thought that he would stumble upon the secrets of Hogwarts and would enlist the help of a few peopl
1. Prolog

Hello and welcome to the story, please enjoy.

 **Warnings for this chapter: Mentions of abuse.**

 **Beyond Good and Evil**

 **Prolog**

Harry was sitting in front of his window, staring out into empty air. Thoughts circulated in his head, flitting and spinning, never there long enough to grasp. The shining sun, twittering birds and the gentle breeze carrying the soft fragrance of blooming flowers into his room no longer held any sort of importance. A sigh escaped his lips, his dull and unfocused eyes turned and regarded the snowy owl sitting next to him after a few minutes. His companion was clicking her beak angrily to make her discomfort known. With another sigh he slowly lifted his left arm extending his hand to her. A pained grimace flitted over his face for a moment, the only expression of his own discomfort. His fingers lightly stroked her breast feathers, shaking with each movement, slowly but steadily stopping her angry twittering. She gave a soft hoot after a moment.

With another sigh Harry returned his gaze towards the barely clouded sky. Since three weeks he was back at the Dursleys'. The first few days had been relatively silent, which in itself had been a surprise but had every bell ringing in his head. He knew it would only be a matter of time before his uncle or cousin would inflict any kind of pain upon him. It wasn't until the fifth day when they both had been watching a boxing match on TV and his uncle encouraged Dudley to learn how to box. Normally Harry would not be interested in the slightest but then he had not anticipated that Vernon had gotten it into his head that Harry would prove to be a nice punching bag if he were not to complete his chores. Harry's grimaced at remembering that evening. He stopped stroking Hedwig. His chores. He wasn't complaining about having to do anything. No he even welcomed the distraction from boredom and sinister thoughts. He was in no mood to think. Not about himself. Not about his friends. And even less so about Dumbledore.

His expression darkened. But only for a few seconds before disappearing as if it had not crossed his face at all.

His thoughts circled back to his chores. The only thing that he could complain about would be the amount and the punishment, not that it would matter any way. If not completed to the satisfaction of his relatives or in time, hours of pain would await him. If Dudley was not the one who would beat him up it would be Vernon. Neither of them cared if he ended up with bruises all over his body, pains wrecking his body and making it hard to move around at all. Sometimes they even drew blood. Not much, but still enough to make Harry dizzy. His tongue poked out of his mouth, wetting his lips, a short hiss escaped him as the cut on his lower lip stung fiercely. When the punishment did not end in a beating, he would be denied another meal. They never gave him much to begin with but they never denied him so much food that he would starve. Either way it was not very healthy for him.

Harry was in bad shape. He had lost a lot of weight after returning to Privet Drive. His body was a giant bruise. The blue, red, green and yellow spots dotted his whole body, mainly the areas hidden by his oversized clothes. _Wouldn't do for the neighbors to see those._

Even though he was glad for the distraction the chores offered, he was happy when they left him alone. Sure it meant being cooped up in the small stuffy room and to be bored out of his mind, but it proved favorable to being beaten unconscious by either of the large men.

The treatment was nothing new to him. What angered him was the lack of letters from his friends. He gave up a week ago hoping for at least one letter to arrive. He imagined what Hermione would say, if he mentioned the lack of letters to her as soon as he saw her. He could already hear her lecturing voice.

 _But Harry you know that Dumbledore forbid us to write to you! He doesn't want to risk one of the owls getting intercepted. What if the Death Eaters find out where you live?!_

Yep, definitely something she would say to him. And Ron? He would try to change the topic or try to dodge answering altogether if he could. But if he would answer he would probably come up with one excuse or another.

 _Sorry mate, I wanted to write you. I really did. But you know Herm'. She also caught me trying to send Pig off with a letter for you._

Not that mentioning it to either of them would change anything to begin with. Hermione always lectured him about sticking to rules, Ron sometimes lacked the backbone to go against her.

Harry snorted and offered Hedwig an owl treat before carefully lying down on his sorry excuse for a bed. He closed his eyes and slowly a grin spread across his face.

Tomorrow the Dursleys would leave for the whole weekend. Harry saw this as a chance to escape the confines of Privet Drive either for a short amount of times or altogether. He had come up with a plan, if you could even call it that. He wanted to wait until they left before grabbing his own stuff and leaving for Diagon Alley.

With a smile he fell asleep...


	2. Chapter 1 - Back to Hell

**Warnings for this chapter:** Abuse, Violence, swearing, an angry Harry and anything else I have forgotten to include.

 **Chapter 1. Back to Hell**

 _Three weeks prior…_

"Harry? Harry, wake up!"

An undecipherable mumble escaped the boys lips. Groggily he opened his eyes and let his eyes wander, taking in the chaos in the small compartment of the train they had claimed as theirs for the duration of the trip. A girl with bushy brown hair was lightly shaking his shoulder while arguing with the others in the compartment.

A red headed boy grumbled and pulled a face. A slightly younger girl, with the same fiery red hair as the boy, was smiling lovingly at the drowsy boy. His eyes left her face, a bit uncomfortable with her staring at him in such a way, and landed on another dark haired boy. He was sitting at the other end of the compartment, close to the doors. He was also silently watching the bickering between the bushy haired girl and the red headed boy, holding his toad in his hands and sometimes petting it awkwardly. The toad did not seem particularly impressed with the boy trying to poke its' eyes out.

With a heavy sigh he asked the girl, interrupting the bickering.

"Why did you wake me Hermione?"

The brunette turned around and looked him square in the eye before replying.

"Because we will arrive in London quite soon and we still have to change!" She looked away from him to scowl at the others who were still wearing their uniforms. Another sigh escaped his lips along with a shake of his head.

"I wish this train would never reach London in the first place…" he said and looked out the window. A frustrated groan came from Hermione, of course it was wrong of him to say that, he thought as he turned his eyes back to her, preparing for the lecturing that was sure to come. He did not have to wait long.

"Harry! I know that you don't like the Dursleys but their home is the only place where You-know-who cannot reach you and hurt you."

"Herm, don't start with this again! Harry, mate I would prefer it as well if you would stay with us over the summer." The red headed boy stated, looking at him with a small smile. Harry could only produce a pained smile, looking more like a grimace, so he dropped it quite fast.

"Enough of that, we need to change now! We will be in London in less than half an hour." Hermione stated. The boys left the compartment for a few minutes, giving the two girls some sort of privacy to change. Harry stared ahead not really seeing anything. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw blond hair. He turned his head slightly only to come face to face with one Luna Lovegood. She smiled at him, cocked her head to her side and without another word poked him into the side. Harry's lips twitched into a smile which caused Luna to giggle quietly. A noise next to him had him turn around, Hermione had opened the compartment door and motioned for the boys to come inside while she and Ginny stepped out. They changed and Ron let girls in afterwards. The last few minutes were spent with talking about various things. Harry sighed when he noticed that Ginny was scowling at Luna. Luna was sitting next to him and occasionally poking him in the ribs when his attention started to wane. Internally he was shaking his head at Ginny's antics. _Girls_ was the only thing going through his head at that.

A heavy sigh escaped him when the train pulled to stop shortly after. They stood up when they were no longer in the danger of face-planting into the others and heaved their trunks and cages down from the rack above them. They left the train and pulled their trunks behind them towards the barrier separating the magical platform from the Muggle train station. As soon as they passed the barrier Harry turned his head around with a longing look which was cut short with a "Boy!" reaching his ears.

"Time to say goodbye." He said more to himself than to the others who were looking at him with varying looks of sympathy and pity. His insides turned to knots with anger and annoyance. The anger and annoyance were short lived when Luna hugged him and whispered something in his ear. Slightly confused he hugged her back but he dared not comment on what she said. She stepped back smiled at him and with a wink skipped over to Neville. The others took turns hugging him and saying goodbye. Ron clapped him on his back, Hermione told him not to do anything stupid which had him rolling his eyes upwards. Luckily nobody noticed that. And Ginny hugged him longer than normally. He huffed at the look she was throwing Luna. Again.

Another 'Boy!', this time a lot louder and closer had him extricate himself from the red head and grab his things. With a last wave of his hand towards his friends he turned around and walked towards an oversized man, already turning red in the face. _Sometimes I hope he just explodes_ he thought, shook his head and stopped in front of the huffing man. Said man jabbed a finger in his chest, his beady eyes glaring at him all the while.

"Hurry boy. I have no intention of staying here any longer than necessary!" He grabbed Harry at the arm and dragged him out of the train station, ignoring his protests at being man-handled. Vernon opened the door of the car and unceremoniously shoved Harry and his stuff into the car. The trunk hit his knee and Hedwig let out a screech at being thrown about in her cage. The door slammed shut and Harry gritted his teeth.

Great way to start the summer, he thought. Vernon climbed into car and they took off towards Privet Drive. The whole trip to the house was spent in utter silence.

Harry hurriedly climbed out of the car, dragged his things out of it and flinched when the door slammed shut. His uncle barely gave him a chance to properly grab his things before shoving him towards the door of the house. Said door stood already open with a thin woman standing on the threshold. Harry could see that she held back the sneer by the skin of her teeth. Her nose already turned up and her hands fisting a towel she held in her hands.

They entered the house and before Harry could even say _'Quidditch'_ the door slammed shut behind him and Vernon yanked his trunk from his hand, threw it into the cupboard under the stairs, and locked it. Harry made no move to open his mouth to protest how the man handled his stuff. He knew it would only end in another lecture about freaky stuff not being allowed in the house. _Yeah right because that will stop it or me from being freakish_ he thought.

"Go to your room and don't you dare leave it before I call for you!" His uncle spat before shoving him roughly towards the stairs. Harry barely managed to catch himself on the railing. He hastily made his way upstairs, escaping his uncle and his aunt. He ground his teeth together when he opened the door to his 'room'. He could not label this as _his room_. Not when the term storeroom would be more fitting. Every time he left for school his _family_ would just dump more stuff in his room. It ranged from broken furniture to broken toys of his cousin.

Harry studied his room and the 'new' things. Nothing but trash had found its' way into his room. His eyes landed on a guitar which strangely enough seemed to be intact. Obviously his cousin had tried to learn how to play a guitar and stopped it when it became too boring for him. His cousin never really had any interest for anything for a long period of time. _Well, besides making my life miserable._ Harry shook that thought from his head and stepped into the room, closing the door with barely a sound. Slowly and quietly Harry started to sort through the chaos and make room to walk around in the room, not that he had much to begin with. He only managed to clear his bed and put a few things into the old wardrobe and onto the rickety shelf. He dared not to put too much on it in case it finally gave in and everything would come tumbling down and cause a racket. The loud voice of his uncle boomed through the house startling him from his musing, he nearly dropped whatever he held in his hand.

Harry put it away hastily and left his room. He walked into the pristine kitchen and looked at his uncle.

"Help Petunia with dinner and don't you dare burn anything boy!"

Harry replied with a 'Yes sir' signaling he understood. He helped his aunt preparing dinner, happy to at least get some of it before being send back to his room. He slowly ate the meagre meal. Annoyed he had nothing left of the sweets he had bought on the train.

 _Not that they would have helped much..._ he thought. As soon as he had finished his meal he went downstairs to put the dirty dish in the sink. He dutifully washed everything after being told to. He hurriedly washed everything, making sure he really cleaned it to the satisfaction of his aunt. Drying the dishes and putting them back where they belonged he made his escape back to his room. A sigh of relief escaped him after closing the door which quickly turned into a groan of annoyance when he looked up and was again confronted with the mess in the room. He scowled at the things littering the room. He had just picked up another broken toy, his scowl deepening and wishing that the broken things would just disappear. Startled he stared at his hands. The broken toy had just vanished right in front of his eyes. His eyes widened and panic begun to rise inside him. He cursed when he finally dragged his eyes away from his hand towards the shelf. Half of the content had also vanished. His eyes flitted around the room noticing even more things had disappeared.

 _Fuck!_ was the only word going through his head. This couldn't be happening. Trying to ignore the rising panic he looked towards the window. He had not intentionally used magic and without a wand. _But Dobby had used magic and I got into trouble for that_

His shoulders slumped. There was no way but to wait for the letter of the ministry and the shouting of his aunt and uncle as soon as they knew he had used magic in their house. Slowly he wandered through his room putting away what was left, his mood darkening with every passing minute. He glared at one of the old shirts he had gotten. Hand-me downs from Dudley.

 _No wonder Malfoy always sneers at me and girls point at me giggling behind their hands. I would too if I were in their place. I must look ridiculous…_ The shirt had holes in them, spots that he could not get rid of and the color already muted. Harry held it up, his glare intensifying and with a surprised squeak he dropped it. The shirt had caught on fire and turned into dust before reaching the floor. Harry stared at it. He took a deep breath, his brow furrowing. There was no smell indicating that something had burned. None at all. Blowing out the breath he had been holding he lifted a hand to his head and rubbed it vigorously over his face. It seemed as if his magic was more out of control than he had previously thought.

Lost in thought it took him a moment to realize that his aunt and uncle were shouting downstairs. He stared at the door and a feeling of dread settled in his stomach when he heard the screeching of an owl.

A slightly shaking hand turned the door handle and opened the door. The screeching got louder and in the next moment he was looking over the banister. His uncle and aunt were complaining about the ruckus caused by the owl. His heart nearly stopping when he realized why said owl was causing such a ruckus. He had not noticed that along with his trunk, Vernon had thrown Hedwig into the cupboard. She was screeching obviously haven awoken and now making it known that she was anything but pleased to be cooped up in the cupboard.

"Boy come down already!" His uncle screamed at him, purpling with rage. Harry nearly stumbled when he ran down the stairs and stopped a few feet away from Vernon. Harry swallowed, the whole situation abstract in his mind. His family complaining about the very owl they had thrown into the cupboard in the first place. He wanted to laugh and also scream. He did neither just staring at his uncle unsure what to do. His uncle fiddled with the lock of the cupboard. Once opened, he turned around and before Harry could blink, pain blossomed in his cheek. His uncle huffed in rage and screamed at him.

"Take that blasted bird and go to your room! If it doesn't stop soon I will personally see to it that you will get no food for the next days!"

A mumbled 'Yes sir' was all Harry said. He hastily grabbed Hedwig and made a dash for his room. He put Hedwig's cage down on the shelf next to his desk. He had barely managed to open the cage when Hedwig climbed out and flew towards him. She landed on his shoulder and started pricking him with her beak, once nearly biting his ear.

"Hey! Stop that Hedwig! I am sorry that whale locked you up." He tried to soothe her with soft strokes over her breast feathers. It took a while for her to calm down, hooting once and clicking her beak and cuffing him on the back of his head when she flew to her cage. Harry could not hold back the yawn. It had been a long and tiring day. He changed for bed and fell onto it. It creaked dangerously but did not break. He arranged himself on the bed and falling asleep soon after. The events of the unintentional magic all but forgotten.

The next day dawned and came far too soon for Harry. He had been awake since a few minutes just lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. He sighed, it was better to get up and dress than wait for his aunt or cousin to come and throw him out of bed heaping loads of chores upon him to complete. Throwing the thin blanket aside he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Slowly and sluggishly he stood up walking towards the wardrobe. He pulled out another of the ugly shirts and grimaced. He pulled on some clothes, grumbling all the time about stupid oversized relatives. He was lucky he stopped his mumbling in time the door of his room burst open and his aunt stood there glaring at him.

"Get going and prepare breakfast!" she spat. He walked into the kitchen and started preparing the food. His stomach was grumbling. Oh how he would like to eat it himself or just put something in there to make his fat uncle and cousin choke on it. He shook his head. He scowled at his dark thoughts and directed his focus back towards the meal. He heard his uncle and cousin before he saw them. Their size made it nearly impossible for them to walk around without making any noise. He placed the breakfast on the table and started cleaning the dirty dishes.

He only got two slices of toast with a glass of water. While he tried to eat them as fast as possible his aunt regaled him with his chores for the day.

"Clean the rest of the dishes. Then go and weed the garden. Bring the hedges into shape and prepare a new flower bed!"

He nodded. Swallowing the last bit of the toast and the rest of the water he started his chores. Outside the sun was shining without abandon. Sweat was running down his body. He spent hours weeding the garden, his throat parched. He stood up, swiping his hands down his clothes getting rid of the dirt as best as he could. He entered the house and listened for a moment. He stepped into the kitchen careful not to leave any dirt anywhere and grabbed a glass. He filled it with water still keeping an eye and ear out for his family.

He was outside again, his family none the wiser and continued with his chores. The hedges and the flower bed done the way his aunt wanted them to be. She had explained it to him as if he was some stupid kid who had no clue what he was doing. He had barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes at her. It had takes a few more hours for him to finish everything in the garden and he was just putting the tools back in the shed when his aunt called for him.

"Are you done? Get inside and get yourself clean. You will not make lunch like this." She glanced at his dirty clothes with a sneer. Harry was happy to change out of the dirty and sticky clothes. Even if he loved the nature, spreading the dirt in the house and carrying it around was not really in his interests.

He choked down lunch after a slap to the face. His uncle had burned his tongue on a hot piece of meat which was Harrys fault in his opinion.

" _It is their own fault for being stupid. Why do you let them do this to you?"_ A voice chimed in but he ignored it. **For now.**

The rest of the day he spent in his room until he was called down for dinner. Another small mea, which barely calmed his protesting stomach. He fell into bed once again, tired.

The next three days continued the same as before. Getting up, preparing each meal, chores and falling into bed half dead on his feet.

That was until the fifth day. Lunch went the same as always. Vernon and Dudley watched TV. Harry payed no attention to what they were watching. He later cursed himself for being anywhere near them. His uncle called for him. Silently he walked into the living room and a feeling of dread started in his stomach when he chanced a look at his cousin. He was wearing a silly smile. It never meant anything good for him.

"Now Dudley try it on him!" His uncle urged his cousin. Harry took a step back. He had an inkling what was about to happen. He wanted to run away but his legs would not move. His cousin approached him and his grin became more and more stupid. Harry knew what was coming when he looked towards the TV. Still it was not enough to prepare him for the fleshy fist that hit him in the stomach. Momentarily winded a thought flitted through his head.

 _Weakness…I cannot show it. Not here, not in front of them. Especially not **here**_

 _"Harder Dudley! You have to hit harder or else he won't go down!"_ his uncle cheered. Another hit landed on him, this time on his chest, he fell to his knees. A hand was clutching his stomach, muffling all sounds with the other hands.

"This is fun Dad. I want to learn how to box." Harry glared at the ground. Oh he was aware what that implied. He edged away from the two men who were no paying any attention to him. He slowly made his way to his room, falling onto his bed with a pained groan. He curled up into a ball, cursing Dudley and Vernon. Sleep claimed Harry, a dreamless sleep that let him escape the Dursleys and all his problems. A short reprieve nonetheless.

The following weeks were filled with pain for Harry. Every midday he would be used as a substitute punching bag, he would have chores for the whole day. More and more often he had trouble finishing them and which in turn earned him punishment from his uncle. Dudley was the reason for his discomfort and that he never managed to complete his chores. His 'training' resulted in the various bruises. They made it uncomfortable for Harry to move around but he bit his lips and stubbornly carried on. Breathing also hurt and more often than Harry liked to, he had to take little breaks to catch his breath. He never made a lot of noise, stoically taking any punishment. His pride would not allow him to cave in. Not now and not in front of them.

Along with the growing physical discomfort, his anger and emotional pain grew. He was unable to send letters to tell anybody about his treatment and up to now no letter had reached him either.

He only wanted to leave this place. _His personal hell…_


	3. Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley

**Warnings for this chapter:** blood, (gore,) violence, swearing and whatever I forgot to mention.

 **Chapter 2: Diagon Alley**

Harry stretched his arms above his head, opening his sleepy eyes. A loud yawn escaped him when he carefully sat up on the creaky bed. Slowly he moved towards the edge of the bed, careful not aggravate his bruises and pained muscles any more than necessary. His feet touched the ground while he listened for any noise in the house. It was silent. Nearly too silent. Harry guessed that the Dursleys had already left the house. Before he realized it he was already standing on the threshold of his room, looking up and down the corridor of the upper floor.

After ten minutes of silence, only broken by the footfall of Harry's steps, he came to the conclusion that he had been right in his assumption. The Dursleys had left. Feeling giddy and a bit happy, Harry took a long hot shower. He washed his hair when his left arm started to hurt a lot and his body in general started protesting every movement. He pressed his lips together to stop any sort of noise to escape. It took him a few more minutes to finish showering and toweling himself dry.

Harry stepped in front of the mirror and looked at the damage his body had suffered in the last weeks. His friends would probably be upset if they could see him now. Ron would start ranting and waving his arms around, Hermione would try lecturing him about defending himself or at least taking care of his wounds.

 _Well easier said than done._ he thought and prodded his ribcage for any broken or fractured ribs. He was not allowed to use magic. _Not that it stopped me from using it unintentionally._ he mused. He had waited a few days after the incident for a letter to arrive. But none had reached him or his family.

Potions would probably help if he had any with him. Which sadly, was not the case. _I knew I should have nicked a few from the infirmary over the last few weeks…_ His thoughts trailed of when his fingers found a bruised rib and the pain made him dizzy for a moment. Besides spells and potions, there was always the option of using Muggle methods. He discarded that idea quickly, because they rarely helped and took too much time until they had any effect at all.

Dressed he walked back to his room, opened the window and looked around for Hedwig. She was sitting on her cage and her amber eyes stared at him. He sighed and walked towards her.

"Hedwig. I think it's time we leave this place. I don't think we will get another chance like this anytime soon. Fly to Hogwarts and stay in the owlery, yeah?"

She hooted softly spreading her wings and took off towards the window. He was glad that his stupid relatives had not put bars in front of it again. Harry stared after her until he could barely see her anymore. His eyes left the ever shrinking spot of his owl and turned towards his room. He searched for anything left that he wanted to take with him. He gathered a few small things in his arms and walked down the stairs towards the cupboard where his trunk was kept. He dropped everything on the ground and walked towards the jackets hanging in the hallway. He rummaged through the pockets, cursing every time his hands found nothing in the pockets. _Damn it. Where did Vernon put that key?_ When Harry had searched every pocket of the jackets he began rummaging through the kitchen and the living room. Becoming more and more frustrated the longer the search lasted. With a huff he stalked the stairs up to the bedroom of his aunt and uncle. Again the search ended fruitless. _Seems like I have to use force to open that stupid cupboard_

Harry stared at the lock, his hands pressing into his sides and gasping for breath. He had tried quite a few things to pry the lock open, but a frustrated kick was what had done the deed. Still gasping for breath he pulled the heavy trunk from the cupboard and fell onto his butt the moment it was lying on the carpet of the hallway. He put the things he had carried downstairs into his trunk closing it with a groan. He stood up after finally having calmed his breathing down to a manageable level and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass and poured some water in it only to guzzle it down greedily and refill it as soon as it was empty.

A noise startled him and some of the water dripped onto his shirt. Slowly he lowered the glass into the sink. His ears strained to pick up the sound again. Just when he thought he had imagined it he heard the noise again. It sounded like electric static, crackling along something. When the sound reached him for the third time he had already inched towards the window. A soft blueish spidery image appeared close to the edges of the garden. Harry froze.

 _Somehow I don't think those…cracks are meant to be there in the first place._ Harry stared at the cracks that started spreading towards the sides and upwards. His breath caught.

 _The wards are falling apart._

That definitely meant nothing good. He ran towards the hallway grabbed his trunk, threw it open and grabbed his wand, which luckily had not been covered by the pile of things within his trunk.

 _What the hell am I going to do? I can't send a patronus and Hedwig is already gone. I hope she got away before whoever is trying to pick the wards apart could hurt her…_ His left hand reached up to tug at his hair in frustration and panic. He worried his lip and opened the cut on his lips. He hissed as blood dropped down his chin. With a shaky hand he wiped the blood away, staring at the red color for a dazed moment. Another sound, this time louder, made him snap out of his stupor. He slammed the trunk shut, grabbed the handle and Hedwig's cage. He inched towards the door. His heart was hammering in his ribcage. He threw the door open and looked outside. He could not see anything but the spidery image spreading along the edges of the Privet Drive No. 4.

 _Idiot. Why not walk right into their open arms, you are sitting duck here and presenting yourself on a silver platter by standing in the door like an idiot._ His eyes tried to see if he could pick up anything out of the ordinary. He could only make out two people that had disillusioned themselves, their charms distorting the scenery around them. Harry was beyond frustrated. He had only one option. Run. And run he did.

He bolted, ran towards the street and ducked when he heard yelling. He had obviously surprised whoever was out there by his sudden movement. A bright red curse flew past him and spurned him on to run faster, which of course was not easy dragging a heavy trunk and cage with him. Curses passed him left and right and smashed into any obstacle in their way. His name was called again and again, threats and curses yelled after him. He ran and ran, wishing for once that he was allowed to use magic and able to apparate. He cursed when a curse send him stumbling into a fence and his trunk tumbled onto his legs. He scrambled to get up, throwing his arm up in the directions of the street.

 _Please just once, let it work!_

Another 'woosh' sounded when another curse flew past his head and just when he thought that he was an idiot hundred times over and he was going to die here, a loud screech and a thump followed by a crunching sound reached his ears. His hair stood on end when his eyes focused on the violet bus in front of him. Blood smeared the whole front and side of the bus. His eyes followed the movement of the windscreen wiper. For a moment he wanted to laugh at the irony but was startled from his musings when the doors opened and Stan grabbed him, pulled him in and shouted for the driver to get going. His left shoulder slammed into the side of the bus. Stan was waving his hand in front of his face trying to get his attention.

"Hey you alright?" Harry only nodded, in fear of vomiting right here and then. The bus obviously had hit the wizard closest to Harry and squished him flat and thus painting the bus with blood and intestines. He felt ill, the fast and neck-breaking driving not helping at all. He looked at Stan.

"Leaky Cauldron" was all he managed to say before he took another deep breath and clutching whatever was close to him to keep him in place. Nearly losing his balance and briefly wondered where his trunk and owl cage were. He looked towards the back of the bus when he heard a thump and a muttered curse. A wizard in one of the armchairs was spotting a big red spot on his nearly bald head and waving his wand at his trunk and cage.

 _At least Hedwig is not in the cage_

The wizard looked at Harry, shook his head and muttered something under his breath. After minutes that felt like an eternity, the bus stopped and Harry hurried towards his trunk and owl cage, grabbing them, mumbling an apology to the wizard and reached a bed not a moment too late. He practically fell on it, sprawling on it when the bus took off again and driving in seemingly random patterns through the city.

After a few more stops they finally stopped at the Leaky Cauldron. Stan gently pushed him out of the bus, gave him a look and within a blink of the eye the bus was gone.

 _I didn't even pay for the ride_ He shrugged. He couldn't care less, at least the ground beneath his feet was not moving and upsetting his stomach even more than it already was. He pulled a cloak from his trunk, putting it on and throwing the hood over his head. He walked into the dimly lit building, heading straight for the bar. He quickly got Tom's attention, whose eyes nearly fell out of his head when he realized who was standing in front of him. When Tom opened his mouth, Harry hissed, stopping Tom from announcing that he was here to every with and wizard present.

"I need a room, now!"

 _I just hope nobody else has recognized me yet._ He neither needed any more crazy wizards or witches hurtling curses in his direction nor did he need any of the order members to get a hold of him, lecture him about his safety and drag him back to his _loving family_.

Tom reached for one of the keys, reluctantly handing it over to him. Again he opened his mouth, probably intending to ask questions. Once more Harry stopped him from uttering a single word.

"Not a word. To anybody." _Or else I hex you to the moon and back_ He stared intently at Tom who nodded and Harry whirled around, grabbed his things and all but ran for the room. He never noticed the eyes of not only Tom following him, but that of another wizard, tucked into a dark corner. The glowing eyes trailing after the disappearing boy.

Harry had locked the door after himself, falling onto the bed in a heap.

 _Well that plan went well, at least I made it here in one piece. But the Order will be searching for me. I can't stay here for long._

He laid upon the bed for a few minutes, before getting up again and leaving the room, the hood of the cloak hiding his face once more. He hurried through the room to the little antechamber where he would be able to enter Diagon alley. He stared at the wall for a moment trying to remember which bricks he had to tap. He gingerly lifted his wands and started tapping bricks. The passage only opened after the fourth try. He walked through it before it had fully opened and walked past the few witches and wizards that strolled along the alley. He headed straight for Gringrotts. He could not purchase anything until he had at least a few coins in his possession. He entered the imposing building, quickly shuffling to one of the goblins scratching a quill over a stack of parchment. The goblin did not even spare a glance in his direction when he said:

"State your name and business."

Harry hesitated for a moment casting a furtive glance around. Making sure his voice would carry only so far the goblin would hear him but nobody else, he responded.

"Harry James Potter. I wish to make a withdrawal from my vault."

The head of the goblin snapped up, his eyes narrowing and his piercing glare focusing on his face. Harry was so surprised by the sudden movement and glare that he flinched minutely.

"Follow me Mr. Potter. Now." The goblin stated in a hushed but no nonsense voice. The goblin left the raised podium and hurrying off towards the back of the bank. Harry scrambled to follow him. Silently he mused that the goblins really were quite fast for their size and stature but who was he to judge them?

The goblin ushered him into an imposing office. Another goblin sat behind the large table, stacks of parchment piled around him. The goblin was currently perusing some sort of folder but looked up when Harry and the other goblin had entered the office and the doors had closed with barely a sound. Harry was irritated. Why was he in an office and not on his way to his vault? Warily he walked closer to the desk, where the two goblins spoke rapidly in Gobbledegook. The goblin that had led Harry here left, Harry stared after him and a sound made him turn around sheepishly. He ducked his head, embarrassed he had been openly staring.

"Sit down Mr. Potter, we have some urgent things that need to be discussed before we can be interrupted." Harry furrowed his brows _. Interrupted? By whom?_ He kept silent and sat down in one of the chairs across the imposing goblin. Only now Harry realized that this goblin obviously was taller than the other goblins he had met. Not by much, but at least so much it was noticeable if you looked closely.

"Mr. Potter-" Harry startled from his inner musings once again "- would you explain to me why none of our letters have been answered and why you have not attended the reading of your godfathers will?"

Harry even more confused looked at the goblin, not quite comprehending what the goblin meant.

"What letters? I never received a letter from Gringrotts. Neither was I aware that Sirius left any kind of testament behind…" Harry trailed off, somehow he had a feeling that he was in for a big surprise and one he wouldn't like all that much.

"We have been sending letters to for nearly a year Mr. Potter."

"A year?!" Harry exclaimed, embarrassed at the high pitch of his voice.

"And-and what about Sirius testament?"

The goblin stared at Harry for a moment. His whole demeanor made it clear that he was not pleased. He snapped his fingers, the parchment and folders disappeared and with another snap the goblin held an envelope in his hand. He handed it to Harry. He took it, slightly apprehensive and worried. He turned it around, the wax seal of the bank still in one piece. He opened the envelope, withdrawing the parchment from within. He unfolded it and started reading.

 _Mr. Potter,_

 _Your presence is required at the Gringrotts bank for the reading of the will of one Sirius Orion Black. Along with the reading you will be required to sign documents pertaining to the inheritance of the Black title, vaults and further fortunes._

 _It also has come to our attention that you have not yet claimed the inheritance of the Potters –_

Here Harry looked up, thoroughly confused.

"What do you mean I have not claimed the Potter inheritance? I got the key for the vault." The goblin stared at him, his gaze darkening.

"Mr. Potter the key you are most likely speaking of is the key to your trust vault. It is meant to cover your supplies for school, your pocket money if you want to name it as such and other small necessities."

"Are you saying my family had more than this one vault?" Now Harry got angry. Why had nobody told him? If that money was supposed to cover for 'other necessities' why had he not gotten some of it to be able to buy clothes for himself. With a disgusted look he glared at the shirt that peeked through his cloak and at his scuffed trainers. _I could have bought nice, new clothes. Some that would fit! Some that did not have holes…_ He angrily thought.

"I advise you may read the rest of the letter. Save your ire until you have finished it." Harry glared at the letter but did as told.

 _It also has come to our attention that you have not yet claimed the inheritance of the Potters and the title as head of house and Lord Potter. The title of head of house and Lord or Lady will be passed on to the next, or in your case last, descendant of the bloodline. As Mr. Black named you his heir to the Black fortune and the Noble and Ancient House of Black, you will also be granted the title as Lord Black and head of house if you wish to claim them._

 _Sirius named me his heir?_

 _If you will not do so the titles, duties and fortunes will be passed on to the descendant of one Narcissa Malfoy nee Black and Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. As their descendant Draconis Lucius Malfoy carries the blood of the Noble and Ancient House of Black and is therefore entitled to them in case nobody else is available to claim them._

 _Malfoy would get everything? Sirius would roll over in his grave if I let everything fall into the hands of the Malfoys. That means we would lose Grimmauld Place as well. The Order would skin me alive if they lost their headquarters._

 _The respective papers will be prepared and ready to be signed on your arrival._

 _Any questions will be answered to the best of our abilities._

 _Supervisor of the Noble and Ancient Bloodlines fortunes_

 _Head of the Gringrotts Bank_

 _Crazdak Vorkrulok_

Harry stared at the parchment for a moment. His mind was running a mile a minute, trying to make sense of the letter. He lifted his eyes away from the parchment, up to the goblin before him. The goblin in question had watched him closely.

"I fear Mr. Potter that someone has kept you in the dark about the extent of the Potter fortunes and your duties to the Potter line. Am I correct?" Harry only nodded.

"Then I am also right in my assumption that you are also not aware that your parents and your godfather left letters for you along with their wills?" Harry could only shake his head as answer.

 _They left me letters? Why? And why would no-one give them to me?_

The goblin sensed Harry's conflicted emotions and levitated another parchment towards Harry. Harry grabbed the rolled up parchment in mid-air and looked at it blankly.

"That Mr. Potter is the letter of the late Mr. Black. We were instructed to pass it to you and only you. He had informed us that there would be a chance it would never reach you otherwise."

"Sirius knew…that somebody was keeping these things from me?"

"We are not sure Mr. Potter, he was adamant that you would get this personally and that we would see to it that you would read it. I can only assume that Mr. Black will mention something in his letter."

"I hope so…" Harry mumbled and pulled at the ribbon that tied the parchment together. _This is so confusing_ It unrolled itself and seemed to glow for a moment. Harry raised his questioning eyes to the goblin.

"That Mr. Potter I will only explain once you finished reading the letter."

With a gulp Harry fixed his eyes on the letter. Blinking the tears away that already gathered in the corners of his eyes.

 _Harry,_

 _If you are reading this letter I probably messed up pretty badly and am already rotting away somewhere, if there is anything left of me. I would have loved to have spent more time with you but alas I obviously can't. Not in this realm at least._

 _But before I get all sentimental and drown in self-pity about what could have been, I will tell you some things. Things that are important and you need to know. Things I couldn't tell you when I was still alive. I won't make excuses but know this Harry, a curse and meddlesome people stopped me from mentioning anything around you. Every time I broke the curse it was cast on me again. I was able to write this letter before it was cast again and made sure that only you would be able to read it._

 _Those people say they want only the best for you and yet they only achieve the opposite. I hope this letter reached you before it is too late and either the Malfoys or the Ministry got hold of everything my family and yours own. Our families have artifacts and heirlooms that both have been trying to get a hold of for years. Well, those and the amount of shiny golden coins. I will be honest with you Harry. Some of those artifacts and heirlooms are powerful and could do a lot of damage in the hands of the wrong people, especially if they have no clue what they are really dealing with._

 _I know taking on two lordships and the head of house duties that come with our families will be a lot to deal with, but you must do this. It is about time you face the consequences of the actions of the people that only used you and did some questionable things behind your back. Claim the titles and you will be an adult even before you turn 17, then and only then you will be able to get rid of their influence on you. I know prongslet, you are wondering who I am talking about right now. I will not name anybody in this letter, in case you are reading this aloud with one of them in the same room. I wouldn't put it past them to obliviate you about what you read in this letter. One of the Black vaults holds something that will be of great interest to you, the goblins will tell you, and only you which one I am speaking of._

 _Your parents left you a letter and a journal for you in one of their vaults. It is up to you to pick up where we stopped. Maybe you will be able to go beyond what we could do and solve some of the secrets we couldn't._

 _I know you hate those Muggles with a passion and I understand that. I prepared a place for you where you could stay. Away from them and from people who would likely drag you back to that hell-hole. To access it you need to claim the title of Lord Black and get a hold of the signet ring. Only the ring will grant you access to the property._

 _One last thing pup, stay safe, don't let my death drag you down, keep your head up and kick the asses of those Death-fuckers and old snake-face. Oh and kick the Order out of Grimmauld Place if they don't stop meddling with you._

 _Mischief managed._

 _Padfoot_

Harry wiped the tears that had escaped him away. Tears of anger, pain and confusion. He lifted his head, swallowed a few times before he voiced his questions.

"Why did the parchment glow? Why would they stop him from telling me things I am supposed to know? I don't understand…" Harry trailed off unsure if he should voice more of the questions that plagued him.

"The glow of the parchment indicates that you are indeed Mr. Potter." Harry raised his eyebrows, opened his mouth to ask another question but Crazdak stopped him with a raised hand.

"After the reading of his will, some people returned here with one of them parading as you." Harry's mouth fell open in shock.

"Who?" Was the only strangled word he could manage at that moment.

"That Mr. Potter I do not know. The person in question fled as soon as we knew it was not you. His companion on the other hand is another matter." The goblin clasped his hands in front of him, smiling a somewhat scary imitation of a smile, before continuing.

"The companion of the impersonator was obviously not aware that he was escorting a fake. He assured us that he had not been part of the ploy. I only heard later that he got into a nasty fight with another wizard who ended up in Saint Mungos. He on the other hand ended up with a scar along his left side of his face." Here Crazdak traced a clawed finger from his left temple down towards his chin, showing where the scar on the persons face would be. Harry nodded. He was not stupid, maybe dense when it came to some things, but definitely not stupid. Crazdak was telling him that out there, the person with the scar could prove to be an ally. Someone he could trust if this assumption proved to be true.

"Now Mr. Potter I am not sure why someone would keep your inheritance from you but I can only make a guess. As soon as you assume the titles of Lord Potter and Lord Black, you will be emancipated and no longer in need of a guardian." Harry stared. He blinked and then asked:

"Are you implying that I would legally become an adult? Sirius mentioned that in his letter as well."

"Indeed Mr. Potter. Your guardian would no longer have the right to access your fortunes or make any decisions concerning your education, your future life, or about your living arrangements."

"So nobody could force me to go back to that hell-hole?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I can only assume that you are…dissatisfied with you current living arrangements?"

"You would be too if the people you are staying with treat you like a house elf and hurt you out of fun!" Harry blurted out. He slapped his hand over his mouth, stopping himself from uttering one more word. Crazdak sat still, stared at him hard and his piercing glare urged Harry to lower his hand.

"Then I think it is about time that you claim both lordships and your inheritance."

"How do I do it?" The goblin shoved a pile of parchment in his direction.

"You will have to sign some of these documents. As the letter of your godfather confirmed your identity I have no need to test you any further. It was after all tied to your magical signature." Harry, who had grabbed the first sheet from the pile, nodded and started reading. After a while he asked:

"So all I have to do is sign these? Nothing else? And here I thought I had to do some kind of ritual…" Crazdak chuckled.

"That Mr. Potter is not as farfetched as you might think. Some families still perform rituals to pass on the title of Lord or Lady of the house but this way proved to be simpler and less time consuming." Harry nodded in understanding. He read the rest of the pile occasionally asking questions and Crazdak explained the things Harry had trouble understanding. Crazdak offered him a black quill with a golden tip to sign the documents.

"Just a warning Mr. Potter, the quill will use your blood to sign these documents so they will be magically binding. It may…sting a bit."

"A blood quill?" Crazdak confirmed his question with a nod. Harry shrugged and muttered:

"Wouldn't be the first time I have to use one." Crazdak stared at the hand Harry was massaging. He unceremoniously grabbed Harry's hand and eyed the words on the back of his hand.

"Would you care to explain why, Mr. Potter, these words are permanently engraved onto your hand?" Harry grudgingly explained the circumstances behind the words. Crazdak released his hand.

"That Mr. Potter is illegal. Blood quills are only intended to be used to sign contracts or other important papers. They are by no means to be used to write _lines_ of all things. And you were not the only one who was forced to do this?"

"Yes, but I was the only one who was left with scars." Crazdak made a noise of disgust and waved his hand at Harry, motioning to him to sign the papers.

"Better get this over with then Mr. Potter." Harry signed wherever Crazdak showed him. The sting was barely noticeable, it felt more like an itch. When Harry finished signing the last line, the parchment glowed and disappeared. Surprised he handed the quill back.

"The documents will be kept safe and away from prying eyes. A copy will be send to the Ministry archives. We will make sure that nobody will be aware of what has transpired here today."

Grateful Harry mumbled a "thank you" and took two small boxes from offered by Crazdak. He slipped the boxes into a pocket of his cloaks, intending to open them later, for now he needed to get to his vault. He exchanged goodbyes with Crazdak, receiving Sirius will, the keys to all of his vaults, and a pouch that had charms on it to prevent it from ever overflowing, getting lost or stolen. He left the office and followed another goblin, who had been called to take him to his vaults. They spent the neck-breaking ride to his vault in silence. He waited for the goblin to open his vault and stepped inside not caring if he looked greedy when he shoved a lot of galleons into the pouch. The ride back was also silent besides the whooshing of the air around his ears. He bid the goblin farewell and left the bank, but not before pulling the hood of the cloak over his head.

Feeling famished he walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, asking Tom for a small lunch, opting for something light so he wouldn't upset his stomach. He sat in one of the darker corners keeping an eye out for anybody he knew. He was sure it wouldn't take the Order long before they would hear about what happened at Privet Drive and start looking for him. He smiled to himself. _Well at least they won't be able to drag me back to the Dursleys._ He was still reeling over the fact that he was now legally an adult, allowed to do what he wanted. _He was finally allowed to use magic_. He was not going to delude himself by thinking that some people would be happy about what he did, but he had enough of them telling him he was 'too young', that he wouldn't understand or some such nonsense. He snorted. Did they really expect him to get rid of Voldemort with a tickling charm? He shook his head, he had no time to sit around, he had some things to take care of.

He left a few coins on the table and went back into Diagon Alley. He took a deep breath, steading himself and opened the door to the shop of Madam Malkins. A soft chime sounded and the door closed behind him. He looked around at the clothes and eyed the woman that approached him. He recognized her from his first year in the store. It was Madam Malkins who was approaching him.

"Hello dear, how can I help you? Are you searching for something in particular?" Harry shook his head. _If I keep this up I am going to end up with either a headache or a cramp in my neck._

"No. I…I need new clothes…" Harry gestured at his shirt, hoping she would understand. She pursed her lips when she eyed his worn shirt.

"Now those simply are disgraceful, dear." She looked him dead in the eye and raised an eyebrow.

"Anything you have in mind dear?" Harry fiddled with the hem of his shirt, not quite sure where to start.

"Uh…" _Yeah real intelligent of you, idiot._ She chuckled.

"A whole new wardrobe I guess?" Cheeks tinted red, he nodded, feeling more and more embarrassed with the minute.

"Now no need to be shy, dear. Just come with me." The next two hours were spent with picking new clothes, adjusting them when needed and Madam Malkins chatting away. Harry was not bothered at all, he was grateful she told him about what had happened during his stay with the Dursleys. He had after all not even gotten the Daily Prophet and had had no clue what had been going on in the magical world. She even made a few jokes about a few clothing articles that looked just plain weird or hilarious on him. He smiled at her, feeling at ease. He should have known that the peace was about to be interrupted.

The chime sounded and Harry looked towards the front of the store. A tall, dark skinned man stood there and looked around. _Crap, isn't he an Order member?_ Harry was grabbed from behind, roughly cutting his musings short and dragged out of sight, shoved into a room at the back of the store. He spluttered and turned towards Madam Malkins. She held a finger to her lips, indicating for him to stay quiet.

"I will explain later. Stay here." Confused and a bit suspicious he stayed where he was. Madam Malkins left. He heard her speaking with who he assumed to be Kingsley Shacklebolt. He stood in the room for what felt like an eternity, eyeing the boxes with the different fabrics. He tensed when he heard footsteps coming closer to the room. The door cracked open and Madam Malkins stepped into the room. He faintly heard the chime of the shop door in the background.

"Before you start firing off questions dear, I am sorry to have dragged you here like this. A… _friend_ …asked me to hide you, should some people come looking for you if you came here alone. He asked me tell you this _'Don't trust the Order'_."

"Who told you this? How can I trust you?" She arched an eyebrow.

"I did not ask you to trust _me_ , I only did what our _friend_ asked me to. He was quite unhappy about the stunt they pulled at Gringrotts." Harry relaxed a bit. So she was talking about _that_ person. He sighed.

"They are probably searching every inch of the alley about now. I am stuck, I guess."

"Now don't be downhearted dear. I will get your things and we can finish your business here. You still need some clothes for school after all." Harry laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Here he was, stuck in room at the back of a clothing store, while the Order members probably are running around searching for him and he was trying on new clothes. Madam Malkins chuckled and shook her head. She left the room and came back with clothes trailing behind her.

"Won't it look suspicious if you are not seen in the front of the shop?" He asked worried.

"Don't worry about that, dear. My daughter is quite capable of taking care of the business. She is tending to the front of the shop while we will finish with these. So nobody will get suspicious."

The rest of the day dragged on slowly and Harry felt tired and exhausted. His stomach grumbled in protest just in time Madam Malkin's daughter stepped into the room.

"I have closed the shop for today. I didn't see any other people looking for you." She said the last to Harry. She spoke to her mother in a hushed voice. Madam Malkins turned back around to Harry.

"Well, I think I kept you here long enough, dear. It seems like, whoever you are hiding from, is not yet actively searching for you." Harry frowned at the women.

"I spoke to some of the other shop owners, nobody has been asking them if they had seen or heard anything about you. And there was no strange activity in the alley." Her daughter said. Harry sighed, his shoulders slumped and suddenly he felt even more tired. The women packed his clothes into bags, which he in turn managed to put into his pouch after procuring the galleons to pay for them. He left the shop after exchanging his goodbyes with them and hurried back to the Leaky cauldron, the cloak safely hiding his face from prying eyes.

He hurriedly ate the small dinner, scowling when he was unable to finish it all. He grabbed the apple and got another drink from Tom, climbing the stairs to the rented room. He closed the door and leaned against him, letting his head fall back and wincing slightly at the hard _'thunk'_ it made upon contact with the wood.

With a heavy sigh he pushed away from the door and trudged to the bed. He placed the apple and the drink on the bedside table. Wearily he stuck his hands into the pockets of his cloak withdrawing everything that had found its' way into them over the course of the day. When the last item landed on the bed he shrugged off the cloak, throwing it onto the end of the bed. He took a sip from his drink and then walked to his trunk. He opened it and stared at the chaos before him. Annoyed and tired he began to empty his trunk, forming different piles. It took him longer than he had hoped. Frustrated, he crumbled a ripped sheet of parchment and threw it into the waste bin. Which burped rather loudly and startled Harry so hard that he had to laugh. He spent the next hour completely emptying his trunk, putting back only the things he wanted to keep and stowed away all the things that laid on his bed. He stuck his hand into the pouch, intend on pulling out the bags of clothes. He was waving his hand around, touching coins left and right, his arm sinking deeper and deeper into the poach before finally finding the bags. _Merlin, I must look like an idiot doing this._

The bags landed in the trunk which Harry promptly threw shut, threw the cloak over it and put the pouch back onto the table before throwing himself on the bed. He kicked off his shoes, shimmied out of his trousers and managed to pull the blanket over himself before promptly falling asleep…


	4. Chapter 3 - A serious problem?

**Warnings for this chapter: Depression, Language, indicated character bashing, and anything else I missed.**

 **Chapter 3: A serious problem?**

Harry woke up and groggily lifted his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes and blinked them open. Sleep had been elusive at best and the scenes of the blood painting the bus crimson kept replaying in his dreams. Thankfully Harry had had no vision plaguing his dreams. He was not quite sure if he really should be happy about it. It set him on edge because he was none the wiser whether or not Voldemort knew what had happened or what his new plans were.

He sat up and got out of bed, took care of his daily needs and sat back down on the edge of the bed. He eyed the two small boxes on the bedside table. He grabbed the one closest to him and opened it. He stared at the ring and mouthed a small 'o'. The Potter signet ring lay upon a blood red fabric, which felt nice to the touch, soft and flowing. The silver band of the ring gleamed in the light. The family crest was an intricate design of a red background, a black 'P' and a golden lion which was standing on his hind quarters, holding a sword. The 'P' consisted of a squiggled design. The interesting thing of the design was that the 'P' and the lion were overlapping in some places. Those parts were white. Holding the ring up close, the light caught on the upper edge of the ring. Words were engraved above the crest.

-Fortitudo. Deus et familia-

 _Well familia obviously means family but I have no clue what the rest is for._

He lifted the ring from the box and slowly slipped it on his right middle finger. A surprised squeak escaped him. A short electric shock had spread through his arm catching him completely unaware. The tingling that followed lasted a few minutes before it stopped to Harry's relieve. He shook his arm to shake the lingering feeling away and warily eyed the other box.

 _Better get this over with. Can't get any worse._

He opened the second box looking at the signet ring of the Black family. The ring was a dull silver. Two green snakes were twisting around the oval form of the crest. The background of the crest consisted of a rich green color.

 _Typical for Slytherins._ He mentally snickered. The 'B' in the center was also a squiggly design with a white snake twisting around the vertical line of the 'B'.

He thought a moment about putting the ring on the same middle finger but knew it was a stupid idea. The rings were by no means small and two of them wouldn't fit on his small finger. He scowled at his hand, hating the fact that not only his hand but his whole body was small for his age. He always felt like a first year compared to Ron or Malfoy. They were tall, lithe and not small and weird like him. He was even more annoyed that all his friends seemed to keep growing while he was stuck with his childish looks.

 _No wonder barely any girls try to touch me. I wouldn't want to touch someone that way who looks like a child either. I would feel like some sort of pedophile…_

He shook his head. He was very well aware that he was not attractive, unlike the other boys from his year. His eyes stared into space. He pictured the bodies of Ron, Malfoy and Dean. While their complexion differed quite a bit, all of them were tall, lean and muscular and attractive in their own ways. While he was not particularly fond of Malfoy, even he could appreciate his pale and aristocratic looks.

He really was a kid compared to them, even if he now legally was an 'adult' in the wizarding world. He was still small, thin and unlike them he had barely any muscles. With a sigh he admitted to himself that he was a bit jealous. They were starting to turn into men. He was not. He stared out the dust stained window, barely making out any distinct shapes, while he remembered the few times Ginny had tried to touch him. She never seemed to touch him when they were alone, only if somebody was around to see it. He had been confused until he realized that she never seemed to really like it. What made it even worse, was that those touches had never been of a sexual nature but those of a friend. Her hugs were fleeting, her touches barely there. She always was afraid of hurting him if she hugged him too tight or put too much pressure wherever she touched him. She treated him like he was made out of glass, a fragile thing that was going to break at any moment. Yet she never realized that her fleeting touches hurt more than her not touching him at all.

 _Even if she means well, it hurts that she feels not only afraid to touch me but feels disgusted as well…_ He clenched his jaw tight, grinding his teeth and blinked the tears away that started forming in the corners of his eyes.

Oh he remembered the looks on the train and at Kings Cross. Or even at Hogwarts. She never liked it when other girls, besides Hermione, got close to him. She would glare at them and sometimes she would even go so far as to hex them when he was not around anymore. He was not sure if she saw them as a threat. At least that was the impression he got. A depressed sigh left his lips. She always claimed she loved him, acted like it with other people around them, yet she never touched him like that but another. And that stung, it hurt and made him feel even more disgusted of himself. He had stumbled upon her and Dean in a hidden corner while aimlessly walking the halls of the castle one evening. He had seen the way they had touched, the passion between them. He knew then and there that to her, he was the same to her as for any other girl. A crush, a dream and a _disappointment_.

He vigorously shook his head and angrily ripped the ring from the box and put it on his left middle finger.

Pain wrecked his body in short stinging shockwaves. He fell back, gritting his teeth and shut his eyes closed, stopping his vision from spinning. His breath became shorter and labored. The painful shockwaves increased and a lonely tear escaped his clenched eyes. His arm was twitching and cramping when the painful shockwaves slowly stopped. Harry laid on the bed and only opened his eyes once he had his breathing back under control.

 _Can't get worse, my arse._ He cursed in his head while glaring at the ceiling.

Half an hour later Harry stood dressed, hood of his cloak covering his face and hand on the handle of the door. He hesitated, thoughts running wild in his head. He had mulled over what had happened in Privet Drive 4. He remembered clearly the way the wards had cracked, falling apart shortly after. But how could that be possible? He remembered that he was told over and over again that he would be protected by them, that those wards would keep him safe from the Death Eaters and Voldemort. And yet the wards had fallen apart so easily. He scowled unseeing at the door. He had been told that nobody knew where he was, so why? Why had the Death Eaters found him and had taken the wards down with barely any difficulty? His hand gripped the handle harder, his teeth worrying his lower lip. What made the whole situation even more confusing was the fact that no Order Member had watched him that day. He thought back to the last few weeks. Each morning, afternoon and evening one Order member would apparate close to Privet Drive 4 and make sure he was within the wards. He had seen some of them hiding clumsily behind the tree in the far corner of the garden, waving their wands around for everybody to see. He shook his head to get rid of the confusion that threatened to consume his thoughts. He had to be cautious from now on, now more than ever. They got so close to catching him. His mouth twitched at the corners. Those Death Eaters were in for quite the punishment. Voldemort sure had to be pissed off that they had been unable to present him to that bastard. But even though he managed to escape them, he was worried. He knew that either the Death Eaters had found a way to track him down or someone who knew where he was must have leaked the information. The question was who? And would they be able to track him down again so soon?

Determinedly he opened the door of the room. He had no way of knowing how much longer he could stay here before anybody found him. He had to hurry and sort things out before someone could interfere.

 _Time to get some things done while I still can._

He left the room, ate a small breakfast and hurried down Diagon Alley soon after. Keeping a close eye to his surroundings all the time. He entered Flourish & Blotts and let his eyes wander over the amount of books. He tore his eyes away from them when a woman approached him. He stopped himself from tugging on the hood of his cloak, it would only make him look suspicious and attract unnecessary attention from the woman.

"How can I help you young man?" She asked.

"Do you have a list with the books that are required for the seventh year at Hogwarts? I don't have it yet but I would like to buy them now." He answered and added:

"And maybe a few other books..." He made sure to turn his head down ever so slightly when she tried to peer closely at his face. He could see the way her face scrunched up in a frown and irritation at being unable to see his face properly. She looked at him skeptically and then said:

"I do have the list, have a look around. I will gather the necessary books." He thanked her and started wandering through the rows of books. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, noticing the way she eyed his figure and mumbled to herself. _Of course she is suspicious of me. I wander around her store with the hood of my cloak covering my face for fucks sake. That is not something people usually do in Diagon Alley._ His fingers wandered over some of the books before him, tracing the etched letters on their spines. He even pulled some of them down, flipped through them or just had a look at the list of contents but none of them caught his interest. Sometimes he felt magic pulsing beneath his fingers in pleasurable waves, some of them tingling and one book had him snatch his hand back as soon as he touched it. He shook his hand to get rid of the gross feeling of the magic that came from the book.

 _Magic certainly is weird. At least none of these books screamed at me or have bitten me…yet…_ He thought while warily eyeing the dark blue book. He tried to read the silver letters on its' spine but could make no sense out of them. They clearly were in a language he couldn't read. He tore his eyes away from the book and walked towards the counter where the woman was putting a few books into a bag. He could feel her wary gaze the whole time he was inside the store but tried not to fidget or do anything weird, lest she start asking questions he was not willing to answer.

The following hours passed with Harry slipping from one shop to the other, carefully evading one or two Order members he had seen in the alley, and finishing his shopping for the next school year. He always kept an eye on the door of each store, hoping that none of the people he was hiding from would enter it and find him. The incident in the apothecary had been a close call, one he would rather not repeat. He had just finished his business, intend on leaving the store when he saw a shadow in front of the door and swiftly ducked behind one of the rows holding gross things. Just in time to evade one of his least favorite people. Severus Snape. While he had the feeling that Snape's eyes had followed him as he had left the store, he was not entirely sure and had hurried back to the room in the Leaky Cauldron. Better safe than sorry. He felt on edge, waiting for the Order members to come rushing into the room and drag him off. It took a while for him to calm down and sort out the things he had acquired during his trip.

Later in the evening found Harry sitting on the bed and throwing the old clothes from Dudley into the waste bin. He giggled every time it burped. Once when he had thrown more than one thing into it, it had farted quite loudly, a cloud of dust following the sound.

Some of the papers Crazdak had given him laid on the bed, abandoned when Harry repeatedly had trouble seeing clearly. He had read Sirius letter twice more, still not sure who he meant. He had his assumptions of course but until he got a hold of the list Sirius had mentioned, he could not be sure. He guessed that the Order must be one of them though if he thought about the last line of Sirius letter. _Until they don't give me a very good reason I don't see the point in kicking them out of Grimmauld Place. I don't need the whole Order trying to berate me about that._

He also had his suspicions that Dumbledore was on the list. He had tried to go to Gringrotts again, later in the afternoon, but had turned on his heel and hurried back to the Leaky Cauldron and the rented room when he had seen Bill Weasley leave the bank with another person. He had recognized the person as an Order member, but the name still eluded him. Giving up trying to remember when his head started pounding with a headache in the making.

He threw the last piece of old clothing into the waste bin, turned around on the bed and gathered the sheets of parchment together. He had already started wondering how much longer it would take the Order until they got wind that he was no longer with the Dursleys and sending out a search party for him. Sure there had been a few running around Diagon Alley, but none of them seemed to be out there searching for him. It looked more like they were tending to their own business and errands. He stood up and walked towards his open trunk, putting the documents into a box he had gotten at one of the shops, closed it as well as the trunk. He had stowed away everything he had bought today with a few complications. He had tried to shrink some of the books and to cast a feather-light charm on his trunk. He glared at his wand that was lying on the bed, remembering the way the charms had not worked or not the way he wanted them to. It annoyed and upset him.

 _I can finally, legally use magic and now this. I don't get it._ He thought and scratched his head.

He got ready for the night, hoping that tomorrow he would be able to go to Gringrotts without any problems and avoid any trouble that could arise. He slipped into bed with a wry smile. That was nearly the same as hoping Voldemort would just drop dead. In other words, not likely to happen.

The next day dawned bright and early. Sun streamed through the window and painted the room in a soft orange hue. Harry turned his head away from the sun beams that had reached his face, tickling his nose and heating up his face. Murmuring some indecipherable words into the pillow he tried to fall back asleep. He gave up after ten minutes of tossing and turning and got up. He clumsily made his way to the attached bathroom and got ready for the day.

He walked downstairs and seated himself at one of the tables partially disappearing in the darkness of the room and helped himself to the breakfast that appeared before him. While he was chewing on one of the small, still warm bread rolls, he watched the witches and wizards that passed him or were sitting at the other tables scattered throughout the pub. While his outer appearance seemed calm, his insides were twisting with worry. He knew that it only was a matter of time before either the Order members or even worse, the Death Eaters got a hold of him. Still he was surprised that neither of them had found him up to now. It made him question not only the abilities of the wizards and witches but also made him wonder how difficult it had to be to find a young wizard who was loitering around one of the most known magical places in Britain.

Harry lowered his hand and placed the last bit of the bread roll back on the plate. With a sigh he looked around once more before leaving his shadowed place and leaving the pub, intent on visiting Gringrotts again. _I just hope that I will not run into anybody today…_

With a brisk walk Harry made his way to the building at the end of the street, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally entered it. He walked over to one of the goblins and waited for it to acknowledge him.

"What do you want?" The goblin asked quite rudely and eyed Harry over the edge of the desk it was sitting behind.

"I would like to go and visit one of my vaults."

 _The vault Sirius mentioned has to wait until I found a save place. I don't want to go through the trouble of getting the list just to let it fall into the hands of the Order or the Death Eaters. And I don't want to think about what they will do once they have it._

The goblin made a derisive noise and muttered something under his breath before calling for another one of his kind to take Harry to the vast caverns beneath the earth's surface holding fortunes of so many magical beings.

The goblin escorting Harry was silent besides asking which vault he wanted to be taken to. The ride seemed to take an eternity before they reached the vault. The last bit of the ride had kept on spiraling down and made him dizzy and glad to have solid ground beneath his feet once more. The large doors of the vault loomed above their small forms. As they stepped closer Harry could feel the magic pulsing, washing over him in waves. The doors emitted a soft glow that pulsed in the same rhythm Harry could it feel it washing over him. Harry stared at the doors fascinated by the swirling and flowing patterns the magic wove in front of him. The goblin cleared his throat, startling Harry from his trance.

"You have to place your hand here, Mr. Potter." The goblin told him while pointing at a section of the doors.

"My hand? Don't I need a key to open it?" Harry asked puzzled by the request.

"That Mr. Potter only pertains to some of the vaults here at Gringrotts. Due to some…unsavory occurrences we thought it prudent to change some of our security measures."

"May I know what changed?" Harry inquired. The goblin pierced him with his gaze. Harry barely stopped himself from fidgeting under the piercing gaze of the goblin. At last the gaze lost some of its' piercing quality when the goblin answered in even tones.

"Blood can be taken from another Mr. Potter, magic can disguise one as another and fool our security to some degree. But there is no way to fool magic herself. Only she can distinguish the signatures that are unique to each sole being."

Harry blinked.

"She?" He asked, feeling stupid the moment the word left his mouth and even more so when the goblin looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Yes, she. For we call her 'Mother of magic'. Few of you humans still cling to the old ways of respecting her. Most of you just use her as you please."

Harry looked away, not keen at being scolded over something he had no knowledge of. He tuned out the grumbling of the goblin, walked to the doors and all but slammed his hand onto the oval, smooth shape in the door the goblin had pointed out earlier. The magic flowing around the door rushed through his hand, along his arm and through his whole body. His knees shook from the force of the magic. The magic receded from his shaking body, leaving behind a soft and warm feeling. The oval surface beneath his hand glowed slightly, clicking and scraping noises reached his ears. He looked at the doors slowly that were opening, revealing a pitch black space before him. With a short look towards the goblin, he took a tentative step forward and nearly lost his footing when he stepped on something squishy. He certainly did _not_ give a girly squeak at that. The goblin behind him made sounds that distinctively sounded like laughter. Harry covered his face with his hands, embarrassed and still not sure if he even wanted to see what he had stepped on. Just as he removed the hands from his face, the torches around the vast cavern came to life, casting shadows in bizarre forms around the many piles of coins and other objects.

Harry couldn't help himself. He gaped. Only for a moment, mind you, but still he was surprised by the sheer size of the vault itself and the amount of stuff inside it. _My trust vault is a joke compared to this_ He thought with a shake of his head.

He turned his head towards the goblin and said:

"I think I will need more than a few minutes to go through all of this." He said, pointing at the things in the vault. Just as he contemplated how much time he would need and ask the goblin to wait, the creature before him thrust its' clawed hand towards him.

"That will not be a problem Mr. Potter, take this." The goblin handed him a small round object.

"What is this for?" He asked the goblin, eying the small white object.

"Press it and state the number of your vault. Someone will come and pick you up when you are finished here." Harry nodded, but felt a bit worried at the same time. _Goblins sure aren't the nicest magical beings, I just hope they don't forget or ignore me. I don't want to be stuck here._

Harrys' musings were cut short when a 'woosh' sounded and he saw the cart, which he had come down with, speeding away.

 _Great._ Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to the vault. He started walking past some of the piles that were bigger than him, towering over him and making him wonder why they had not toppled over yet. He was even more curious where all the things originated from, who they had belonged to and what the countless bags and pouches held inside them. He stopped in front of another pile of them and grabbed a dark red pouch. He pulled at the golden string that held it closed. The light of the torch closest to him reflected and danced on the surface of whatever was inside it. Carefully he stuck a hand inside and closed it around various small objects. He pulled it out and turned his palm upside, opening it and eyeing the different colorful stones in his hand. Holding them closer to his face, he realized that they were not simple stones, but gemstones in fact. Just as careful as before he put them back into the pouch and closed it. But instead of putting it back onto the pile he put it into one of the pockets of his cloak.

 _Better safe than sorry. I just know that they will come in handy._

He continued his walk through the vault and came upon a row of shelves and glass cabinets. Curiosity got the better of him and he looked at their contents, sure that quite a number of them were of a darker nature, so he wisely kept his hands of off them. Passing the shelves and cabinets he stopped in front of a rectangular object, covered by some sort of cloth. Harry debated for a moment whether or not to pull it away. He grabbed a piece of it that was not in direct contact with the object and pulled. Dust flew through the air and made him cough, waving his hand in front of his face to wave the dust away. His eyes wandered to the object, which turned out to be a painting. But the painting was empty. He eyed the fine engraving around the frame and he squinted his eyes at the upper portion of it. There seemed to be words etched into the frame, but even after whipping away the dust, he could not read it. The letters were distorted and faded. Wondering why nobody was occupying the painting he called out a 'Hello?' feeling stupid within the next moment. Of course nobody would stay in there if all you could ever see would be darkness and nobody to talk to. He stared at the painting for a moment longer, putting the cloth over it again when nobody answered or appeared. He left the painting behind and came across more bags about to burst and some furniture. Just like the rest in the vault, the furniture was also covered in a layer of dust. He let his hand wander over some of them, feeling the smooth texture of the wood-work beneath his fingers. Of course he wondered why somebody would put furniture in a vault but he just shrugged and continued walking. _Wizards and witches sure are weird._ He reached the other side of the vault, looking into another glass cabinet that held jewelry for both genders, shaking his head he resumed his exploration. He eyed the glinting and harsh edges of the objects that were mounted on the wall of the vault. All kinds of swords, axes, spears and daggers of varying sizes had found their way into this vault. Some of them looked wicked, some bulky, which would make it hard for someone of his stature to handle them at all. His hand hovered over some of the daggers. Some of them were obviously infused with magic.

He came across some shelves full of countless books. He read the titles, some of them had his eyebrow rising to his hairline, others seemed interesting. _Hermione would love reading these._ He thought, but decided that he would take some of them at another time. He had barely any space left in his trunk and Hedwig was already at Hogwarts, so he had no way to send them to Hermione. He pulled the object the goblin had given him out of his robe pocket and pressed it, his voice eerily echoing in the vault when he stated the number of his vault. He made his way back to the entrance, picking up a small black bag. _Never know when I need more Galleons._ He thought while shoving it in another pocket of his cloak.

The doors closed slowly behind him, shutting with a resounding 'bang'. Darkness surrounded him. He pulled his wand from his trousers and murmured a 'Lumos', shaking his wand when it flickered. _I have to find out why my magic is not working properly._

With a screeching sound the cart halted in front of him, the goblin in it motioning for Harry to get in.

"Are there any other vaults you wish to visit?" The goblin asked in clipped tones. Harry shook his head. Holding onto the cart as it sped off through the darkness…


	5. Chapter 4 - A Letter from Lupin

**Warnings for this chapter:** **slight character bashing, cursing, and whatever I missed**

 **Chapter 4: A letter from Lupin**

A few days had passed since his last visit to Gringrotts. Sun was filtering through the stained window of the room, dust swirling through the air, disturbed in its' pattern when a huff escaped Harry. He lowered his wand again, letting it fall onto the mattress next to him and rubbed his hand through his hair that was sticking up in tufts. He rubbed his temples, hoping to stem off a headache. He closed his eyes, effectively shutting out the blurry images in front of him. He had barely left the room since his last visit to Gringrotts. More and more Order members had started to walk through Diagon Alley, looking for him. They never moved around in groups, either alone or in pairs trying not to draw any attention to themselves, acting as if they shopping, looking at the various displays in the shop windows or standing somewhere chatting with one another. But they always kept their eyes on the witches and wizards around them.

Not only had he started to avoid leaving his room because he had no intention of running into any of them and face the anger of the whole Order and his friends, but also because another problem that had presented itself a while ago. Something, and he was not sure what exactly it was yet, had started to affect his magic and his body in strange ways. Sometimes he would not notice anything was amiss until much later, sometimes it was happening so fast it often left him confused. His magic was fluctuating in a pattern he had yet to make out. He lowered his hands from his head, opening his eyes and trying to focus his sight upon the rings on his hands. He had a suspicion that all those little things had a connection to them. But no matter how much he thought about it, he came up with no answer on how the rings could affect him in such a manner. Of course he was aware that many objects in the magical world could be infused with magic and have some kind of influence on their owner. He blinked, frowning when everything was still blurry. With a huff he fell backwards on the bed.

Besides the fluctuating magic, he often had trouble focusing his sight for long. He knew he had not the best eyesight but this was beyond ridiculous. One moment everything was ok and the next he could only make out blurred shapes and colors. Every time it happened a sort of prickling sensation would start at the back of his eyes, leaving him annoyed and frustrated. It was not that this prickling sensation resulted in pain but it did get annoying after a while, like an itch you could not scratch at all. Sometimes his sense of touch seemed to be affected as well, but not as much as his eyesight or his magic.

Suddenly the ceiling came into focus and with a huff Harry got up and left his room to go downstairs and eat something. While he moved to the table in a dark corner he thought about the last few days. It was somehow funny that every time he stepped into the pub the Order members lost track of him. But again he had no explanation for it.

He ate his breakfast slowly, watching the witches and wizards with barely any interest. He had finally decided on the next course of action. He intended to ask one of the goblins to take him to the safe house Sirius had prepared for him. One of the documents stated the coordinates but since he could not apparate yet, he had to rely on other means of travelling. A note attached to it had told him that one of the goblins had been entrusted with a means to get there safely should he be unable of getting there himself.

A few minutes later Harry made his way back upstairs to his room, glowing eyes once again followed his disappearing figure. The door closed with barely any sound behind him, his hand resting on the wooden texture of it. Sliding down slowly, breaking contact when he stepped away from it, towards the window. Lost in thought, Harry did not notice the owl sitting in front of the window. The owl scratched at the window, still going unnoticed by Harry. Fed up that the human would not pay attention to her, the owl let out a mighty screech, scaring Harry so badly that he tripped over his own feet and fell. Cursing and rubbing his sore elbow, Harry got up from his spot on the floor, glaring at the feathery ball. He opened the window, grumbled at the owl and removed the letter, only to get scratched by the owl. Angered Harry swatted at the owl which took off with another loud screech.

 _Stupid bloody bird._

Harry stuck his scratched finger into his mouth sucking on the wound while he turned the letter around with his other hand. Harry frowned at the lack of anything written on the envelope but just shrugged his shoulders, removed his finger from his mouth, shortly inspecting the wound. Satisfied that it seemed to be a shallow cut and no further blood forthcoming he ripped the envelope open and removed the folded parchment. Unfolding it, he was confronted by a familiar handwriting. Steeling himself, Harry began to read.

 _Prongslet_

 _It has come to my attention that you have been gone from Privet Drive for a while now. There are a lot of people who are not happy about your disappearance and voiced their opinion about your behavior quite loudly. I know you have your reasons for running away and not many know that you were attacked by_ His _men. But Molly is worried about you, as well as I am. I will save the reprimand for a time when I see you again, right now I need you to stay alert and keep your eyes open for_ His _men and the Order members. I am aware that the mentioning of the latter must be confusing for you. I feel that some of the Orders actions and that of a few members do not add up and that has made me wary. I will not go into detail here as it is too risky. If they get a hold of you it is probably going to be unpleasant. Some Order members got it into their head to punish you, once they get their hands on you, their choice of punishment nothing short of torture. Their reasoning is beyond my understanding and I fear what will happen to you, when no one stops them._

 _Please, wherever you are, stay safe and stay out of trouble. Right now, nobody knows where you are and you should keep it that way._

 _Moony_

Harry lowered the letter, frowning in confusion. Here he had expected Remus to tell him off and to call his behavior irresponsible and reprimanding him for his lack of foresight, of the repercussions that he would face for running away and words meant to make him feel guilty for running away. What he did not expect was a somewhat cryptic letter that told him to stay away and hide. Worried Harry read the letter again, just _what_ was is that made Lupin so wary of the Order? And what kind of punishment had the Order members in mind _? 'Nothing short of torture' does leave me wondering just what kind of punishment they had in mind…and moreover who exactly came up with that punishment..._

Running his fingers over the letter, his frown deepened. A light tingling sensation started where he touched the parchment. Remembering the tingling sensation from his visit at Gringrotts, Harry was confused. Why would the letter be imbedded with magic?

Suddenly shocked and angry he threw the letter down. Could it be? Could Lupin use the letter as a means to find him? But then why warn him to stay hidden? Utterly confused he stared at the letter.

 _Could it be that Lupin wasn't the one to cast a spell on the letter?_ Harry kept staring at the letter, hoping that somehow it would give him the answer. _It doesn't matter who used a spell on it, but this is my cue to leave._ Nodding to himself, Harry decided to make a quick detour to Gringrotts before getting the hell out of here. After all he still needed to talk to one of the goblins to get to that house. Walking past the letter, only shortly glancing at it, he grabbed his cloak, pulled the hood over his head and left the room in a hurry.

Thankfully the street was packed with more witches and wizards than the last few days, which made it easier for Harry to hide from the Order members. Stepping into Gringrotts Harry was faced with numerous wizards and witches lining up at the counters awaiting their turn. _Crap, what the heck am I supposed to do now? If I stay here too long someone will notice or recognize me_

He stood there, not sure what to do next, fidgeting under his robe. His gaze hurriedly flitted from one person to another, from one counter to another trying to find an opening, a way to get past all these people without any of them recognizing him. Just when he thought he should leave and wanted to turn around, someone grabbed him by his arm and hurriedly pulled him to the side. He was so surprised he could not even utter any protest and just stumbled along, regaining his balance once he and the other person stood well away from the other witches and wizards, hiding in a shadowed corner.

"Harry!" the person hissed his name, obviously male and familiar to him. Harry looked up and right into the freckled face of one of the Weasley twins.

"Are you an idiot?!" the question was hurried, worried, he saw the twins' eyes flick from his face towards passing witches and wizards.

"What the hell are you doing out here in the open?" The twin, George as Harry guessed, was grabbing both of his upper arms by now, tightly and slightly shaking him. Harry stared, George stared right back, eyes starting to narrow.

" _Harry?_ " his name was uttered with more worry, more impatient now.

"What?" _Duh…really intelligent_

"What are you doing _here_?"

"Sorry George, I… you just surprised me."

"Surprised you? Gods, you… do you have any idea what is going on right now?"

He shook his head and said "I am not sure what exactly you mean, there is a lot going on."

George looked at him, seemingly baffled for a moment before he regained his bearings and with another short glance at their surroundings he pulled Harry further into the shadow.

"The Order is going barmy, you just up and disappeared and nobody knows where you are or if you are even safe!"

"I'm sor-"

"Shut up!" George snapped, effectively shutting him up. _That's a new one_ he thought while looking at George with wide eyes. George sighed and pulled him very abruptly towards him, engulfing him in his arms and squeezing him. After a moment he pushed Harry away again, only a bit, still holding on to him.

"We worried sick you idiot. You could at least have sent a message that you were fine."

"I sent Hedwig back to Hogwarts before I had to run away."

George scowled at him for a moment, before a sigh left him.

"Of course. She is easily recognized, so it makes sense to send her away to a safe place. Still you could have come to our shop."

Harry lifted an eyebrow, stating drily "With the increasing amount of Order members patrolling around it, no thanks."

George looked at him, searching for something and obviously finding it, if his look was any indication.

"You read Sirius letter?"

"You know about the letter?" His voice sounded surprised, accusing and a little bit hurt. "Why would you not tell me about it?" The accusation clear in his question. George seemed to falter for a moment, probably trying to think of what to say. With another hurried look around them he looked Harry right in the eye.

"Look, I will tell you the details later, the short version of it is that we found out that someone put a spell on Sirius, we came to the conclusion that some things were not quite the way they seemed to be and he entrusted the letter to us. The Order kept too close an eye on us, so we took it to Gringrotts where it would be safe from prying eyes."

"But why? I don't get it. You could have told me!"

"Too many prying eyes and ears. Just like here, why are you here Harry? There are too many people around and the Order is sending more and more people to look for you."

Harry did not know what to do. He wanted to yell at George from withholding the letter from him, hurt that they never said anything about it but also understood what George was implying, he also did not trust the Order entirely. But something else bugged him.

"Do you know who put a spell on Sirius and what kind of spell?" George looked at him, anger and bitterness reflecting in his eyes and the tight line of his mouth.

"No, we are not sure who was responsible, but we have an inkling as to what kind of spell they cast on him. But Harry, whatever it is you wanted to do here, we should do it _now_ , before another Order member finds you here with me."

"But there are too many people at the counters" He said after turning his head towards the crowd of witches and wizards awaiting their turns to whatever they were here for. George followed his gaze for moment, scowling. Harry turned around when George spoke again.

"Follow me, standing at the counters is too dangerous, one of the Order members should be here to patrol soon. Do you know which Goblin is handling your accounts?"

George started to hurriedly drag him away from the crowd, gripping his hand tightly in his, as if scared that Harry would run away as soon as he turns his back to him. Harry looked down at their hands, confused for a moment before he replied.

"Crazdak"

A short snort sounded from ahead, before George turned his head to him with a smirk adorning his face.

" _Good_ "

Harry just raised an eyebrow not sure what to make of the twins reply and smirk. He just followed the twin to the back of the hall towards one of the many hallways. They only stopped once they rounded a corner. A goblin approached them, looking displeased at them and grumbling something about stupid humans. George, still smirking, addressed the approaching goblin.

"Excuse me but we would like to see Crazdak, there is an urgent matter we need to discuss with him." The goblin just stared at George for a moment, snorted and moved as if to walk past them. Harry stepped in his way which earned him a disgruntled and annoyed glare from the goblin.

"Crazdak does not see to the business of every wizard who deem themselves too important to follow simple rules. Go back and wait at one of the counters for your turn-" Harry angry at the rudeness of the goblin raised his hand, nearly shoving it into the face of the goblin, presenting the Potter ring, effectively cutting the goblin off mid-rant. Before Harry even said anything the goblin huffed, turned around and muttered an annoyed 'follow me'. George just looked at Harry, smirked and started following the goblin, dragging Harry with him once again. It was only then that Harry noticed that George had been holding onto his other hand the whole time. Shrugging it off he followed George and the goblin though a few hallways and to Crazdak's office. Crazdak sat behind his desk perusing many different papers pilling up next to him. He looked up about to offer some remark, probably about being disturbed, but stopped when his eyes landed on Harry. He lowered the paper and pointed to the chairs in front of his desk. The other goblin left without another word.

"Mr. Potter, while it is surprising to see you again, may I inquire as to what caused you to visit me this unexpectedly?"

"Sirius left me a note that a goblin was left with a means for me to access the safehouse, he did not state whom he entrusted it with."

Crazdak hummed and directed his gaze towards George. George stared right back. They stared at one another before Crazdak smirked and returned his gaze to Harry who just looked confused from one to the other.

"Mr. Weasley, while I appreciate your help of bringing Mr. Potter to my office, I am sure you can let go of his hand now." He looked pointedly at their hands, George looked down, turned his head away and he _blushed_ before slowly letting go of Harry. What the hell is he blushing for? Harry wondered.

"Mr. Potter, I am aware of who was entrusted with said transportation means but I advise against using it. I do think it is more reasonable to let Mr. Weasley take you to the safe house."

"Why can't I use whatever Sirius left for me?"

"I fear that the portkey, which was left for you, has been compromised."

"Compromised?"

"Someone probably tampered with it." George butted in. Harry looked at him, brows knitted in confusion.

"Tampered with it? What do you mean?"

"They either placed a spell on it to trace where it would take you or to redirect you somewhere else."

"As Mr. Weasley guessed, it indeed has been tampered with. How they managed to do it and who is responsible for it we do not know yet, we are still looking into it, as far as we can tell the goblin in question has been obliviated and has no recollection of who he last interacted with."

"Great so either being followed to the safehouse or being dumped somewhere else, sounds just peachy." Harry grumbled and rubbed his temples.

"Mr. Potter do you have the coordinates of the safehouse with you?"

Harry sighed, looked up and said "I do" and pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket holding it up.

"Mr. Weasley, be so kind to side-along Mr. Potter to the safehouse, I will meet you there." Crazdak stated, got up from his chair and suddenly vanished before their eyes."

"Why will he meet us there? And how does he know where it is?" Harry asked George, who had already grabbed hold of his arm again.

"We will see, show me the coordinates." Harry gave George the piece of paper. George shortly read it, then put it into his pocket, raised his wand, concentrated and suddenly it felt like they were squeezing through a thin tube. The sensation did not last long, but long enough for Harry to feel slightly queasy. Their feet slammed onto the ground, Harry stumbled and fell. George who had been holding unto Harry lost his balance and fell with him. They landed in a heap, both groaning, Harry because he hit his head on the ground and George for unknown reasons. George finally managed to get up und held his hand out for Harry to grab, which he did and was pulled to his feet.

"Now that I call an elegant entrance." Crazdak chuckled from a few feet away, gaining their attention. Both looked around, besides fields and a forest there was nothing around them to see.

"Seeing that you are here we landed in the right place. But as we cannot see anything I guess the house is hidden behind some wards."

"You are correct Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter, please step closer, I will need to key you into the wards so you can access the house."

"How will you do that?" Harry asked as he stepped closer to the goblin, eyes flitting around the empty field in front of him.

"Give me your hand Mr. Potter." Crazdak simply said, his own clawed hand outstretched and waiting. Harry hesitated for a moment before offering his hand to the goblin. Clawed fingers wrapped around his hand and moved it so that the palm was facing up. Before Harry could react, Crazdak drew a small dagger from somewhere, cut across his palm und pushed his hand onto something solid, but invisible. Harry hissed in pain, George gave a noise of protest and stepped closer to them, ready to withdraw Harry from Crazdaks' grasp.

Crazdak started chanting something and the air before them started to flicker, shapes which at first were blurry but steadily became more solid appeared before them. Harrys hand was pressed against the wards surrounding the safehouse. Before them appeared more trees, an overgrown garden and a simple two-stories house. It looked like an old farmhouse, white with greyish-blue frames for the door and the windows.

Crazdak let go of Harrys hand and said "Now Mr. Potter you will be able to access the safehouse at any time. The wards had to be activated by your blood and your magical signature keyed in to recognize you as the owner."

Harry rubbed at his hand, staring at the smeared blood. George took his hand and whispered a spell, effectively healing the cut and cleaning the blood away with another whispered spell.

"Next time warn us. You scared us quite a bit." George directed at the goblin who looked anything but guilty, in fact he was smirking slightly.

"And I had to make sure that we finish this business as soon as possible, I believe you will have a few things to take care of now."

"Can George access the safehouse as well?" Harry asked the goblin.

"Not yet, you will need to grant him access and key him into the wards if you wish for him to be able to access it at any given time."

"Umm…how do I do that?" Harry asked, seeing the irritated look if Crazdak he turned to George who scowled at him.

"Mr. Potter, are you telling me that you know nothing about wards?"

"Well…actually only a little bit." the goblin heaved an annoyed sigh, rubbing his head and muttering something in Gobbledegook. George put his hand on Harrys shoulder but looked at the goblin and said "I know we need to do this quickly but I need to get back or else my brother will start to worry about why I have not returned yet. I am sure he would also like to hear that you are well and alive." The last sentence he directed at Harry, who in turn nodded."

"Go. I just hope the Order won't find out about this." He said and remembered the Order members patrolling Diagon Alley. With a groan he remembered that he would need to go back for his stuff. With another groan he buried his face in his hands. "I am such an idiot!"

George confused asked "What do you mean Harry?"

"I left all my stuff at the Leaky Cauldron." He said and looked up into Georges face.

"I got a letter and left in a hurry."

"What letter?"

"From Remus…there was a spell placed on it. I felt it."

George furrowed his brows, his mouth a thin line. Worry evident on his face.

"Crazdak, please teach Harry how to key us into the wards. I will leave and inform Fred to go and gather Harrys things and to meet us back here. I will need to go and get Angelina to manage the store for the rest of the day."

"Will that not be suspicious if you just leave her there alone?" Harry questioned. George shook his head.

"That happens all the time and the Order does not keep track of us as much as they like to. We often need to leave for business spontaneously or for longer periods of time." He grinned cheekily and wriggled his eyebrows. "They won't bother us if we leave for another _business_ trip."

"Then I advise you leave immediately Mr. Weasley, while I give Mr. Potter the necessary instructions." And with a nod to the goblin and a grin to Harry George left with a soft 'pop'. Crazdak did not waste time and began the task of instructing Harry on the complicated process of keying someone into the ward.


End file.
